LA Rush | DJcube

More than a race. A lifestyle.

NA release: 11th October 2005
EU release: 21st October 2005
JP release: N/A
Developer: Midway Studios Newcastle
Publisher: Midway
NGC Magazine Score: N/A
Version Played: PS2

The Rush franchise is a series of arcade racing games that had three successful N64 ports: San Francisco Rush, Rush 2 (set across the whole USA) and the sci-fi racer San Francisco Rush 2049. They were a lot of fun and I had no idea that the series had a sequel on the PlayStation 2. While it never came on the GameCube, its association with the N64 games made me want to check out where the final entry in the franchise ended up, in the lovely setting of Los Angeles.

I was not prepared for the opening cutscene, though, with a criminal underworld, nightlife, women wearing nearly nothing and a story about illegal street racing. Another criminal visits your character, making fun of how his original car is on display next to his fancy sports cars. Your new rival is funding the new races with the goal of taking your turf. The next morning, your place has been ransacked with all your cars taken – except for your old banger.

You even take control of your car in a GTA style open world, driving around to markets to select the races. One huge problem is that this version of LA is designed with “realism” in mind, with lots of traffic and very few gaps. Usually games make roads larger so you can scoot in the middle of two lanes, but not here. And slightly hitting another car will cause the police to chase you, making it really annoying to get around.

The races aren’t much better, either. They’re checkpoint based but don’t block off the wrong route, meaning you can hit checkpoints in the wrong direction and find that the next is behind you. Driving itself feels loose as with very little control. It’s just not fun at all. The strangest thing is that, with the seedy story and “realistic” map, the final lap and winner announcer is straight out of the arcade games, and feels so out of place.

If you took True Crime: Streets of LA (which is even based on the same location) and removed everything except the races, then it would still be a better racing game than LA Rush. It’s crazy how much this game feels like a minigame from a GTA style game rather than something designed specifically to be a racing game.

If you want any enjoyment from LA Rush, it’s not from the racing, but more from messing about with the police. Slightly hit a car and watch the police smash though five to get to you, slowly drive around in a circle while they chase you and they’ll constantly smash into walls to try and get you. Drive the wrong war around the freeway and each police car you pass will turn on their sirens but never stop or turn around. Much more fun than the racing.

Poor

If you’ve played any previous Rush games, you’ll be sorely disappointed. It’s nothing like any Rush game — in look, feel, design, physics, or anything else. If you like Midtown Madness, Need for Speed Underground 2, or Midnight Club 3, LA Rush pales in comparison.
Douglass C. Perry, IGN

Did the GameCube Miss out?

No, we have plenty of similar, better, games.

Remake or remaster?

Only if they want to do a complete collection.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to buy LA Rush